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I like how this thread went on prebuilt vs. DIY. I see a computer like a gun. You can build one from parts or buy one complete from a shop. The OP was asking how to build a computer and seems like the fellow was interested in getting into a really simple hobby of computers.
Prebuilts are nice for hassle free computing and repair. The main problem is that a lot of big box manufactures the use of sub-par parts. They buy these by the lot and at the cheapest that they can get them. Dell uses Intel motherboards and whatever cheap RAM they got(they get some real off the wall stuff sometimes). I have seen HP(not Compaq) use Asus motherboards and random chinsy RAM. As for Hard Drives I have seen them all use good ones,such as Seagate or Western Digital or cheaper(not all bad) Samsung, Hitachi, and the worst of the worst Maxtor. Power supplies are always a funny one since a lot of them are pure garbage and barley handle the machine that they were made for. Dell for some reason ranks high in this area. I have taken a few of these apart and found that they use good capacitors. None of these OEMs are bad they make good machines, just not up to my high standard.
Building a computer can be a easy task. The reason I say can is because sometimes you just get bad parts which requires shipping that part back. I personally choose to build my own because of warranties that the manufacturer I choose have a long warranties. Western digital has 5years on their drives. MSI, Asus and other have 3 years. Memory makers(all good ones) have lifetime warranties. Power supplies are always up for debate on quality. I just research the ones in the wattage rating I need. Cases only matter on looks. Optical drives are cheap I get whatever fits the budget.
Now we get to one of the things that makes or breaks the decision of getting into building your own machine, troubleshooting. I know you have to do some when you are talking to a tech in some other country. With a home built unit you are left to your own devices. It might sound like a daunting task but really simple with the amount of guides on the net. Bluescreen? google the first code(0x000007e or what ever it might be), then search out how to test or fix the issue. Also if a peice of hardware goes out instead of waiting on shipping out the whole thing or having dell come out I just replace parts in house or go to Fry's to pick up a new part if I need to.
I only made this long drawn out post to try to give a unbiased over view of the options at hand, and to give warning at the task ahead. Laptops is a whole different bag of worms. This was also written for small batches of computers(1-5) for 10+ I suggest a OEM due to the time it would take to put all of them together. It is a fun hobbie for personal use, not for large-scale. Money can be saved at the sacafice of a little time. I work on my machine for fixing it about 10 hours a year. once stable sometimes never needs work for that year.
OP if you want to build one, PM me with what you want to do and price range. I'll find the parts for you for free and give a bit of advice, just not full on support.
Prebuilts are nice for hassle free computing and repair. The main problem is that a lot of big box manufactures the use of sub-par parts. They buy these by the lot and at the cheapest that they can get them. Dell uses Intel motherboards and whatever cheap RAM they got(they get some real off the wall stuff sometimes). I have seen HP(not Compaq) use Asus motherboards and random chinsy RAM. As for Hard Drives I have seen them all use good ones,such as Seagate or Western Digital or cheaper(not all bad) Samsung, Hitachi, and the worst of the worst Maxtor. Power supplies are always a funny one since a lot of them are pure garbage and barley handle the machine that they were made for. Dell for some reason ranks high in this area. I have taken a few of these apart and found that they use good capacitors. None of these OEMs are bad they make good machines, just not up to my high standard.
Building a computer can be a easy task. The reason I say can is because sometimes you just get bad parts which requires shipping that part back. I personally choose to build my own because of warranties that the manufacturer I choose have a long warranties. Western digital has 5years on their drives. MSI, Asus and other have 3 years. Memory makers(all good ones) have lifetime warranties. Power supplies are always up for debate on quality. I just research the ones in the wattage rating I need. Cases only matter on looks. Optical drives are cheap I get whatever fits the budget.
Now we get to one of the things that makes or breaks the decision of getting into building your own machine, troubleshooting. I know you have to do some when you are talking to a tech in some other country. With a home built unit you are left to your own devices. It might sound like a daunting task but really simple with the amount of guides on the net. Bluescreen? google the first code(0x000007e or what ever it might be), then search out how to test or fix the issue. Also if a peice of hardware goes out instead of waiting on shipping out the whole thing or having dell come out I just replace parts in house or go to Fry's to pick up a new part if I need to.
I only made this long drawn out post to try to give a unbiased over view of the options at hand, and to give warning at the task ahead. Laptops is a whole different bag of worms. This was also written for small batches of computers(1-5) for 10+ I suggest a OEM due to the time it would take to put all of them together. It is a fun hobbie for personal use, not for large-scale. Money can be saved at the sacafice of a little time. I work on my machine for fixing it about 10 hours a year. once stable sometimes never needs work for that year.
OP if you want to build one, PM me with what you want to do and price range. I'll find the parts for you for free and give a bit of advice, just not full on support.
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